Intel, Flextronics, Texas Inst. and more

Stocks to watch

Concurrent Computer Corp.
CCUR, -1.41%
is in a video-on-demand deal with Time Warner Cable, a unit of AOL Time Warner
AOL
Concurrent Computer will launch video-on-demand services for Time Warner's Houston division, which serves more than 650,000 basic subscribers and 220,000 digital subscribers. Shares of Concurrent closed up 8 cents at $14.13 ahead of the release and then rose to $15.25 after hours. AOL Time Warner shares finished down 61 cents, or 1.6 percent, at $36.76. Its shares traded flat in evening action.

A report in the U.K. Financial Times said an investor group is proposing to put over $1 billion into Enron
ENE, -8.70%
to support Dynegy's
DYN, -0.24%
$9.4 billion rescue bid for embattled energy merchant. Enron's stock closed Tuesday up 10 cents at $4.11 and Dynegy gained $1.64 to $40.89.

Standard & Poor's said late Tuesday that Equity Residential Properties
EQR, +0.38%
will replace National Service
NSI, -2.65%
in the S&P 500 Index
SPX, +0.64%
after the close on Nov. 30. National Service is being removed for lack of representation.

In a midquarter update, electronics contract manufacturer Flextronics
FLEX, -0.07%
held its third- and fourth-quarter financial targets steady. On average, analysts currently expect Flextronics to earn 17 cents per share on revenue of $3.4 billion in the third quarter and 16 cents per share on revenue of $3.2 billion for the fourth quarter, according to Thomson Financial/First Call. Flextronics said business is "quite stable," and it is seeing some signs of a "slight" upturn. Flextronics also said it's making some organizational changes. Shares closed the regular session up 73 cents, or 2.9 percent, at $25.55. See full story.

Finisar
FNSR, -0.11%
posted a second-quarter loss of $55.4 million, or 31 cents a share, compared with a loss of $22.5 million, or 15 cents a share, a year ago. Excluding various charges, the maker of fiber optic subsystems reported a pro forma loss of $9.1 million, or 5 cents a share, vs. pro forma income of $7.5 million, or 4 cents a share, a year earlier. Analysts, on average, expected Finisar to report a second-quarter loss of 5 cents a share on revenue of $34.7 million, according to Thomson Financial/First Call. Revenue came in at $35.1 million, down more than 20 percent from a year ago. Shares of Finisar nudged 1 cent higher to close at $12.73 ahead of the report. In evening action, shares declined 19 cents to $12.54. See full story.

Analyst Eric Chen at J.P. Morgan H&Q said his research indicates that Intel's
INTC, -0.68%
demand for chip-making equipment dropped off in October and November, which suggests weak shipments in November and December. He also believes there are "tens of thousands" of motherboard inventory in China, due to a slowdown in PC demand. Chen still believes Intel will meet previously-given fourth-quarter revenue expectations of $6.2 billion to $6.8 billion, but said "upside from the mid-point will be difficult." The stock closed Tuesday up 44 cents at $32.31. Given the stock's relative outperformance -- up 58 percent from the end of September versus a 29-percent rally in the Nasdaq Composite
$COMPQ
-- he recommended not chasing the shares from current levels.

Medtronic
MDT, +0.34%
said that fiscal second-quarter profit, excluding special charges, rose to $349.2 million, or 29 cents per share, from $309.1 million, or 25 cents per share, in the year-ago period. Earnings were in line with the average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Financial/First Call. The No. 1 medical device maker said revenue rose 15 percent to $1.6 billion for the quarter. Read more. Ahead of the announcement, shares of Medtronic edged down 2 cents to $44.04. Shares held steady in third-market trading.

Microsoft
MSFT, +1.25%
indicated on Tuesday that it wants to meet European Officials in an "amicable" meeting and settle the EU's antitrust case against the software maker, ABN-Amro noted overnight. "Apparently, given the two recent settlement agreements in the company's pocket, Microsoft lawyers feel like they are on a roll," analyst George Godfrey told clients. The stock closed Tuesday down $1.40 at $63.74.

Analyst Byron Walker at UBS Warburg said he expects Novellus Systems
NVLS
to reaffirm fourth-quarter earnings and revenue expectations when it gives its mid-quarter update, slated for after Thursday's closing bell. However, Walker thinks the chip equipment maker's order expectations -- flat to up 20 percent sequentially -- are "vulnerable." He maintained his "hold" rating and 12-month price target of $40. The stock closed Tuesday up $1.48 at $40.66.

Specialized chipmaker OmniVision Technologies
OVTI, +0.00%
reported a second-quarter net loss of $3.7 million, or 17 cents per share. That compares with net income of $2.1 million, or 9 cents per share, in the same quarter a year earlier. The company said the loss was mainly due to the settlement of legal disputes between it and Photobit Corp. On a pro forma basis, OmniVision reported a loss of $200,000, or 1 cent per share. Analysts, on average, were expecting earnings of 1 cent per share, according to Thomson Financial/First Call. Shares, which rose 10 percent to $6.24 ahead of the report, fell to $5.16 after hours.

Rigel Pharmaceuticals
RIGL, -0.36%
said
PFE, -0.25%
has accepted a validated drug target, resulting in a milestone payment to Rigel. Details were undisclosed. The company's entered into a 2-year collaboration agreement in January 1999, which was later extended by a year, to identify intracellular drug targets that control production of a key mediator ni allergic reactions and asthma. Rigel shares closed Tuesday down 2 cents at $5.38 and Pfizer trimmed 30 cents to $43.60.

ScanSoft
SSFT, -5.26%
said it has agreed to buy Lernout & Hauspie's speech and language technology business, in a cash, stock and debt deal valued at $39.5 million. Under terms of the deal, ScanSoft will pay $10 million in cash, 7.4 million shares of its stock and issue $3.5 million note. The acquisition, concluded Tuesday in a bankruptcy auction, includes almost all of the assets of Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products N.V. and L&H Holdings USA. The company said it expected to retain at least 150 Lernout & Hauspie employees. The stock closed Tuesday down 12 cents at $3.40.

Seachange International
SEAC, -0.34%
reported a loss of $1.2 million, or 5 cents a share, for its third quarter, while analysts expected the company to lose 3 cents a share. In the year-ago period, the digital video systems company earned 2 cents a share. In trading on the Island ECN, shares slid nearly 7 percent to $28. On an earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization basis, the latest quarter earned $366,000, or 2 cents a share. Revenue for the quarter totaled $25.2 million, up 1 percent compared with the year-ago total of $25 million. Shares closed up 31 cents to $30.06 ahead of the news.

Speaking at a Credit Suisse First Boston technology conference Tuesday, Texas Instruments
TXN, +0.36%
Chairman, President and CEO Tom Engibous reconfirmed the company's fourth-quarter outlook. For the fourth quarter, the technology company is expected to post a loss of 9 cents per share on revenue of nearly $1.7 billion, according to Thomson Financial/First Call. Shares of TI closed up 13 cents at $32.58. Read more.

Wireless operator Triton PCS Holdings
TPC, -0.25%
said it would offer 6 million shares in a secondary stock offering. Current institutional shareholders will offer 6 million shares of common stock and underwriters will be granted an over allotment option of 900,000 additional shares in connection with the offering. The company will not receive any proceeds from the offering. Shares of Triton rose 3.3 percent to $32.50 on Tuesday.

Wells Fargo
WFC, +0.80%
said it will buy back up to 30 million shares of its stock to meet common stock issuance requirements for benefit plans, conversion of convertible securities, acquisitions and other corporate purposes. The San Francisco-based financial services company has 1.7 billion shares outstanding. Shares closed Tuesday down 26 cents to $43.11 but then rose to $43.95 in third-market action.

Tuesday's advancers

Cepheid
CPHD
gained almost 9 percent after the Sunnyvale, Calif., biotechnology firm was issued a patent for its internal control method of ensuring accurate DNA test results. The company said the patent broadly covers "compositions and methods that ensure, within a single, closed reaction-tube, the integrity of all the chemical reagents used for PCR-based DNA detection." Cepheid expects to have a prototype available to the Defense Department at the end of the year. It anticipates products using this technology will be commercially available in 2003.

CyberSource
CYBS
leapt more than 14 percent after the Mountain View, Calif., risk management and electronic payment technology firm backed its financial outlook for a pro forma loss, excluding items, of 22 cents a share on revenue of $7.6 million in the fourth quarter. In addition, CyberSource said it plans to lower its work force by 30 employees, or 10 percent, resulting in an undisclosed charge in the fourth quarter. The company also plans to move its software development activities to California, and close its St. Louis location.

Giga-tronics
GIGA, +2.13%
soared more than 57 percent after the company's Microsource unit was awarded multi-year contracts from Boeing
BA, +0.23%
a "major aerospace system integrator" and two other international customers valued at more than $7 million. The maker of telecommunication, test and measurement and defense electronics products said the orders were received in the first quarter of the year, but were reflected in backlog.

Incyte Genomics
INCY, +2.44%
advanced more than 17 percent after the Palo Alto, Calif., genomics information firm named Paul Friedman chief executive officer. The company also named Robert Stein president and chief scientific officer. Both Friedman and Stein previously worked with DuPont. Friedman was president of DuPont Pharmaceuticals Research Laboratories, and Stein was executive vice president, research and development, at the same unit. Roy Whitfield, who had served in the CEO role at Incyte, was named chairman, succeeding co-founder Randy Scott. The company also received an upgrade from JP Morgan Chase.

Keryx Biopharmaceuticals
KERX, -0.64%
added 11 percent, rising for a third straight session. Before Monday's opening bell, the firm named President Benjamin Corn to the additional post of chief executive officer. Korn, who also joins the board, succeeds Morris Laster, who will remain Keryx chairman

Level 3 Communications
LVLT
surged nearly 15 percent after the company announced new "multi-year" agreements with America Online, the Internet services arm of AOL Time Warner
AOL
in which AOL will buy Level 3 broadband and broadcast services in North America, and services linking North America to several cities in Europe. See full story.

McData
MCDTA
rose almost 5 percent following news that it will replace Newport News Shipbuilding in the S&P MidCap 400 index.

Red Hat
RHAT
leapt nearly 27 percent after the company announced plans to collaborate with IBM
IBM, +0.46%
to deliver Linux software, services and support to IBM's e-server product line. See full story.

Rock-Tenn Co.
RKT
gained almost 8 percent after the Norcross, Ga., packaging firm is saying that it expects earnings of 30 to 34 cents a share in the first quarter, up from a previous outlook for a profit of 23 to 27 cents a share. The company attributed the higher outlook to strong volume growth in its businesses, except for Alliance Display, which has seen normal seasonal weakness. Rock-Tenn also said the outlook was helped by improved operations, lower interest expense, and lower debt levels. Accordingly, the company raised its earnings outlook for fiscal 2002 to earnings of $1.47 to $1.57 per share, down from a profit of $1.40 to $1.50 per share.

Sirius Satellite
SIRI, +0.14%
gained nearly 12 percent after the New York satellite radio broadcaster named Joseph Clayton president and chief executive officer. Clayton most recently served as vice chairman of Global Crossing
GX, +0.00%
He replaces David Margolese, Sirius founder and chairman, who left the CEO post in October. Sirius expects to launch its commercial satellite radio service in early 2002.

Somanetics
SMTS, +0.40%
rose more than 7 percent after the company won U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval to sell its CorRestore patch, a device for use in heart surgery. Surgeons will implant the CorRestore patch to help restore function in a diseased heart, Somanetics said. The medical device maker said it expects to begin marketing the product early next year.

Synaptic Pharmaceutical
SNAP, -1.83%
gained nearly 9 percent after the Paramus, N.J., drug discovery firm outlined a succession plan in anticipation of the retirement of its chief executive officer, Kathleen Mullinix. The company said it has hired an executive search firm to search for a successor to Mullinix, who also plans to retire from the president and director posts. In its press release, Mullinix also said that Synaptic plans to file an investigational new drug application for a drug candidate to treat depression.

Tech Data
TECD, +1.78%
advanced almost 10 percent after the company reported net income for the third-quarter, excluding special charges, of $33.1 million, or 58 cents a diluted share, down from $47.2 million, or 82 cents a share in the third-quarter last year. Analysts, on average, had expected earnings of 51 cents a share according to Thomson Financial/First Call. For the fourth quarter, the company expects to earn 58 to 63 cents per share on revenue of $4.1 billion to $4.3 billion. Analysts currently expect earnings of 61 cents a share on revenue of nearly $4.6 billion. See full story.

WorldGate
WGAT
leapt nearly 22 percent after the company announced that its interactive television platform will be used by the British Broadcasting Corp. to launch a service based on the BBC series "The EastEnders" in the U.S. Financial terms of the deal weren't disclosed.

Tuesday's decliners

ArthoCare
ARTC
sank 14 percent after the Sunnyvale, Calif., medical device firm said it expects bottom line results in the fourth quarter to be within the range of current Wall Street estimates for a profit of 13 cents a share. However, the company expects product sales growth for the quarter of 20 percent, lower than previously indicated due to the postponement of planned product launches. Looking ahead to 2002, ArthoCare is forecasting product sales growth of roughly 20 percent from 2001, with operating income doubling and net income growing by 30 percent. The company also believes it will continue to be cash-flow positive from operations in fiscal 2002.

Business Objects
BOBJ
tumbled more than 4 percent after Merrill Lynch lowered its intermediate-term rating on shares of the French business intelligence products to "neutral" from "accumulate" due to valuation. The firm maintained its long-term "buy" rating. Merrill noted that the shares are 18 percent above its $30 price target.

Dollar General
DG, +2.57%
slumped almost 6 percent in afternoon action. The company said late Monday on its Web site that month-to-date total sales for November are tracking for an increase of 20 to 21 percent, below the company's previous outlook for an increase of 22 to 24 percent. Same-store sales for the period are tracking for a rise of 3 to 4 percent, below Dollar General's anticipated growth of 5 to 7 percent

Genesco
GCO, +2.80%
lost nearly 19 percent after the Nashville, Tenn., footwear firm reported third-quarter earnings from discontinued operations of $8 million, or 33 cents a share, down from a year-ago equivalent profit of $8.8 million, or 36 cents a share, and a penny ahead of the average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Financial/First Call. Sales rose 5.6 percent in the latest three months to $186 million from $176.1 million in the same period a year earlier. Looking ahead, Genesco expects earnings of $1.47 to $1.52 per share on revenue of $744 million to $751 million in fiscal 2002. This outlook is below the average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Financial/First Call for a profit of $1.54 per share. For fiscal 2003, the company is projecting sales growth of between 10 and 15 percent, and diluted earnings per share to rise between 5 and 10 percent.

Hasbro
HAS, +0.19%
dropped more than 5 percent after the company announced a $200 million convertible debt offering. The toy maker said initial purchasers will have the option to buy an additional $50 million in debt. Hasbro will use the money raised from the offering to refinance existing debt.

Kmart
KM
fell almost 7 percent after the company reported a third-quarter loss of $224 million, or 45 cents a share, compared with a loss of $67 million, or 14 cents a share, recorded in the same period a year earlier. Excluding items primarily related to restructuring, the net loss was $127 million, or 25 cents a share. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial/First Call had been expecting a loss of 27 cents a share. Revenue for the period fell 2.2 percent from last year to $8.02 billion, and comparable-store sales decreased 1.5 percent. See full story.

Men's Wearhouse
MW
shed more than 12 percent after the apparel retailer warned that fiscal fourth-quarter results would fall short of expectations. The company said based on initial results from the beginning of the peak holiday selling season, it now expects to report earnings of 35 to 45 cents a share, while analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial/First Call had been expecting EPS of 70 cents, on average. For its third quarter, the company reported net income of $3.98 million, or a dime a share, down from earnings of $17 million, or 40 cents a share, in the same period a year ago, but in line with analyst estimates. Sales fell 6.1 percent from last year to $285.6 million.

Nokia
NOK, +0.19%
gave back 6 percent after the company lowered expectations for 2001 but issued an upbeat outlook for 2002, predicting 15 per cent sales growth with continuing good profitability. Nokia told its annual global analyst meeting that conditions were set to improve markedly next year. It expected to achieve sales growth of 25 to 35 percent during the fourth quarter of 2002 at the latest. It estimated between 420 million to 440 million mobile handsets would be sold globally in 2002. But Nokia reduced its estimates for handset sales this year to 380 million from the 390 million figure it gave in October. Nokia said it expected 105 million to 110 million phones to be sold in the fourth quarter.

Rambus
RMBS, -3.16%
lost almost 7 percent after the company said the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia issued its final ruling in the Rambus versus Infineon Technologies
IFX, -3.37%
patent case, and has entered an injunction against Rambus preventing the memory chip maker from enforcing certain of its patents against certain Infineon products. "Today's order was largely as expected, and will be swiftly appealed," said John Danforth, general counsel at Rambus.

TMP Worldwide
TMPW
tumbled nearly 5 percent after the job-search Web site operator said it has certified its compliance with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission's second request for information related to TMP's proposed acquisition of HotJobs.com
HOTJ
The FTC had requested the additional information to satisfy requirements of the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvement Act of 1976. TMP expects the purchase to close in the first quarter of 2002. The stock closed Monday up $3.49, or 8.6 percent, at $44, and HotJobs added 64 cents, or 8.7 percent, to $8.01. Separately, analyst Brian Shipman at Robertson Stephens downgraded TMP to "market perform" from "buy," saying the stock had exceeded his $40 price target despite worsening signs from the employment sector.

U.S. Vision
USVI
plunged nearly 27 percent after the Glendora, N.J., firm announced that NOROB Inc., a company formed by shareholders to take U.S. Vision private, has terminated the planned merger. A notice announcing the termination cited the deterioration in U.S. Vision's retail operations and prospects. U.S. Vision also forecast a loss of 10 cents a share for the third quarter, well below last year's equivalent profit of 17 cents a share.

Veritas DCG
VTS, +0.92%
fell almost 10 percent and Petroleum Geo-Services
PGO, +0.00%
surged more than 22 percent after the companies announced Monday that they would merge in a deal valuing Petroleum Geo at $7.64 a share. The combination will create the second largest company in the geophysical services industry with a market capitalization of approximately $1 billion. See full story.

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